The Dallas Cowboys continued to stake their claim as the most puzzling/inconsistent/under-achieving team in the NFL Monday night, losing at home to the Chicago Bears 34-18.

Dallas now gets a bye week off to figure something out before playing at Baltimore and at Carolina. And if the Cowboys can’t get their running game back in gear, or their wide receivers in the right places, or their QB to stop throwing interceptions, this season might be over with sooner rather than later.

Monday Night Review

Dallas put on one of its patented puzzling performances Monday night in losing to Chicago. Tony Romo threw five interceptions, although at least two of those were not his fault, the running game produced just 41 yards and the defense made Jay Cutler look like an All-Pro.

So the Cowboys, at 2-2, are tied for second place in the NFC East with Washington and New York, a game back of 3-1 Philadelphia.

The off-week does offer up time to heal a couple of injuries on the defensive side of the ball, and maybe by the time the Ravens game rolls around WR Dez Bryant will have figured out where he’s supposed to be on hot routes. Maybe.

The Next Opponent

Baltimore is 3-1 heading into a game at Kansas City this Sunday. The Ravens, running a no-huddle for much of their first four games, rank second in the league in offense at 424 YPG, although the defense, playing without LB Terrelle Suggs, ranks 23rd, allowing 390 YPG. Baltimore’s lone loss was a 24-23 decision at Philadelphia.

Looking Ahead

We don’t want to paint too bleak a picture, but if Dallas isn’t ready for its upcoming stretch of games its season could be in jeopardy. The Cowboys visit the Ravens Oct. 14, then the Panthers Oct. 21, then host the Giants, then play back-to-back road games at Atlanta and at Philly. And let’s face it, Dallas might be very fortunate just to win two of those games, and its record in the latter portions of seasons recently is not good.

The Cowboys do not want to be below .500 heading into a December stretch of games against the Eagles, Bengals, Steelers, Saints and RG III-led Redskins.